Buccaneers undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels is fourth on the depth chart, but he looked in his preseason debut like he might have an NFL future.
Daniels played the second half on Friday night and completed 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards, and also ran for a touchdown. Third-string quarterback Connor Bazelak started for the Buccaneers on a night when starter Baker Mayfield and backup Jake Browning were both off, but Daniels looked better than Bazelak, and Bucs coach Todd Bowles praised Daniels after the game.
“I thought he was very poised,” Bowles said. “He went in relaxed. We knew he could make off-schedule plays out of the pocket, but he played very confidently in the pocket. He made the right reads. He zipped some throws in there. I thought he played very well.”
Daniels spent six years at Kansas and developed a reputation as a quarterback who made plays with his legs as much as his arm, but Bowles said after the preseason opener that he appreciated Daniels trying to work within the Buccaneers’ offensive system rather than rely on his running.
“He took what they gave him,” Bowles said. “He didn’t try to get out of there too fast and he was calm under pressure, and he let the system work for him as opposed to just trying to make a play. He did some very good things tonight from a poise standpoint.”
Daniels said he’s been hard at work on learning to play in an NFL system, rather than the more improvisational style he had in college.
“We’ve worked on a lot of different things to get me out of certain habits I had in college,” Daniels said. “I have a better understanding of it than when I first got here.”
He put that on display in his preseason debut.
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